Press release:
Joined by state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Secretary Susan Dreyfus, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners, Mayor Mike McGinn today announced the availability of City of Seattle benefits on a statewide web portal. It’s the first partnership of its kind in the nation between a state and a large city.

Low-income residents in the greater Seattle area can now more easily learn about and apply for multiple city, local and state-sponsored programs that support people in need through the website called Washington Connection (www.washingtonconnection.org).

“We want to make sure that people have the opportunity to get the help they need,” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “I thank all of our partners for helping put together this new system that will better support the people of Seattle.”

“I’m proud of the partnership between the City of Seattle and the Department of Social and Health Services,” said DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus. “Together we have given Seattle residents the ability to apply online for multiple City and state benefits through the Washington Connection Benefit Portal in one application. We hope to see more successes like this in the future with other communities.”

Washington Connection was launched in December 2010 by the state to provide efficient online access to DSHS-sponsored programs, and in August 2011 the portal was expanded to incorporate benefit programs administered by the City of Seattle.

These include:

• Utility Discount Program
• Seattle City Light's Emergency Low-Income Assistance
• Project Share
• Seattle Public Utilities' Emergency Assistance Program
• Child Care Assistance Program
• Seattle Step Ahead Preschool Program
• Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP)
• Weatherization Assistance (HomeWise)

The City started this integrated approach internally with the Seattle Human Services Department’s PeoplePoint Customer Service Improvement project in 2009 to increase the number of people served and improve customer service and business practices. Mayor McGinn embraced the team’s recommendations when he took office. A key recommendation was a technology solution. As a first step, the City combined separate paper application forms for multiple City-administered benefit programs into one City application.

During the same period, the Gates Foundation, together with partners from the state’s public and private sectors, including the City, worked with the state on developing an Internet portal that could manage applications and information from different programs. The City and DSHS agreed to work together to link people to City benefits through Washington Connection.

“This new partnership will help more families get connected to resources they need to get them back on their feet,” said David Wertheimer, deputy director of the Pacific Northwest initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We will continue to find ways to support innovations like this that help our region’s most vulnerable families and children.”

To help support the cost of adding City benefits to the portal, the City received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Through this grant, the City developed partnerships and provided capacity building funds to 39 community-based organizations to use Washington Connection to assist their clients in applying for benefits. Seattle area residents can also use the Washington Connection portal at libraries, Parks’ community centers, and DON’s neighborhood service centers.

The availability of City-administered benefits on the Washington Connection Benefit Portal means that low-income individuals and families can now submit one online application for City and state services. After completing a single application, the relevant pieces of information are delivered electronically to multiple programs at the City or state for eligibility determination and enrollment.

Since the City benefits went live on Washington Connection at the end of August 2011, through mid-November, the City received applications from 1,991 households applying for 4,177 City benefits.